Interactions of the Cloud and the Mist
by Skylarks and Skulls
Summary: Different meetings of the shy skull and the lonesome skylark, whether merely platonic, romantic, or anything in between. 1896, contains explicit swearing in later chapters. Cover image not owned.


Title: The Overprotective Cloud

Characters: Vongola Tenth Generation

Pairing: Slight 1896

Words:

Genre: Friendship, Hurt/Comfort

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**AN: **

**So this story is what I wrote in this amazing fanfic writing course I took a couple weeks ago. It's undergone some minor editing, but please help me point out any grammatical or spelling errors, or give me some suggestions for other stories. The next story is going to be 'The _ Mist'. I still need to think up a title, but it's going to be a Chrome-centric story, in ****_only_**** her point of view. If you have any ideas, please review or PM me, 'cause I really need help! =_=**

_Disclaimer:_

_Skylarks and Skulls (aka Allo) doesn't own the Katekyo Hitman Reborn series or any of the characters, themes or settings originating from it. She does, however, own the plot of this story, as well as the XXX restaurant group. (Dedication to anyone who can figure out where the names 'XXX' or 'Allo' came from!)_

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_**The Overprotective Cloud {Part 1}**_

**~ Kumo ~**

As Hibari waited for the omnivore to arrive, he pondered what she could want to talk to him about. It was unlike her to suddenly fly in from Italy and arrange a meeting between them with no good reason, so he doubted there wasn't something behind this impromptu lunch 'date'.

He sensed her presence behind him, and rolled his eyes. "Don't reduce yourself to something as herbivorous as sneaking behind my back, Nagi." Chrome smirked and dispelled the illusion around her that was making her invisible. "Of course, Kyoya." She sat down gracefully on the seat across from him.

"So what did you need to speak with me about? I'm quite busy, and don't have time for courtesy calls." He spoke sharply, not letting on how happy he was to see her. She caught on anyways.

"Don't be modest, I know that you cleared your entire schedule for the day." She teased, a glimmer of mirth in her voice.

He scowled. "What did I tell you about looking through my private files?"

She pouted "It was just that one time, and I didn't even mess anything up this time!"

A waiter walked over, and as he saw Chrome, he grinned brightly. "May I take your order?" She returned the smile with a soft smile of her own, and he cleared his throat. The waiter seemed to not have previously noticed him, and as when the man saw who he was, he seemed to shrink back a little. Hibari resisted the urge to smirk.

Though it had been years since he was in middle school, the town still recognized him as the demon prefect. "I'd like a green tea, and a cappuccino and two slices of chocolate gateau for the lady." From the corner of his eye, he could see Chrome glaring at him.

"A-anything else?" The waiter asked, his voice significantly higher.

"No." The man scurried away, and Chrome frowned.

"You didn't have to scare him away. He didn't do anything wrong."

He raised an eyebrow, amused. "You're level of obliviousness rivals that of the female herbivores. If you didn't notice, he was flirting with you. I was simply letting him know that you aren't interested."

She blushed lightly, hiding behind a curtain of violet hair, and she almost looked as she had in the past, so cute and vulnerable. But she grew stronger. The little voice in his head reminded him. Isn't that what you wanted?

"You didn't have to make it seem like we're in a relationship! Now he'll go around spreading rumors, and then people will misunderstand!"

"So what? You know we aren't dating, and I know we aren't dating. Does it really matter all that much what other people think?"

They sat there in an quiet silence, as neither of them could think of something to say. That brought him back to the point that he had no idea why he was there. As he was about to inquire into why she had arranged this meeting, the same waiter came by, carrying the food they'd ordered. Chrome thanked him graciously, but with a glance in Hibari's direction, he left swiftly.

Hibari observed the young woman before him, watched as she got a smudge of chocolate on her face. He wiped her face with a napkin, and she blushed a dark scarlet. Suddenly, He was reminded of the first time they'd spoken, the beginning of their friendship.

_ Reborn, like always, had thought up an activity (read: torture scheme), this time involving all the guardians. Somehow, the arcobaleno had convinced everyone, even Hibari, to take part in it. _

_ "I have realized that this family isn't close enough! So all the guardians will take part in Vongola Style Trust Building Exercises!" The small herbivore groaned, and immediately, Reborn kicked him in the head. _

_ "ITAI!" He yelped, and the baby's chameleon shifted into a gun. _

_ "Dame-Tsuna. A boss should have close bonds to all of his guardians, so you will take part in exercises with all the guardians!" _

_ "But-" _

_ As the herbivore began to protest, Reborn shot him in the head. _

_ "PARTICIPATE IN TRUST BUILDING EXERCISES WITH MY DYING WILL!" The herbivore roared, and, for some unfathomable reason, began running laps around the school. _

_ The baby smirked. "As I was saying, each guardian will take participate in two exercises, one with a particular guardian they don't get along with, and one with Dame-Tsuna." Behind him, the herbivore was still running around screaming his head off. "I will pick a name out of this hat," immediately, the chameleon shifted into a hat, "and he or she and their partner will participate in todays exercise." _

_ The baby stuck his hand into the Leon hat, and pulled out a slip of paper that Hibari was sure hadn't been there before. "Chrome Dokuro." He gestured for the girl to walk up. Hibari noticed she was still wearing the uniform for that dreadful Kokuyo school. _

"_Hai, Reborn-san." The pineapple's vessel spoke softly and timidly, and Hibari felt the urge to wrinkle his nose in disgust. 'Definitely a herbivore.' He mentally commented._

_ The baby pointed at Hibari. "Your partner is Hibari, and your challenge is simply having lunch at a café without killing each other. And no Hibari, you are not allowed to bite her to death." Hibari mentally groaned, but he supposed it could be worse. He could be having to eat lunch with the pineapple. _

_ "Everyone else can leave. We will meet up here again tomorrow." The baby spoke with a commanding tone in his otherwise squeaky voice, and the herbivores, including Tsunayoshi, quickly left the school premises. _

_ The arcobaleno then turned to them. "You will be having lunch at the XXX café. Hibari, I'm sure you're familiar with it?" _

_ "Hn." He XXX café was a café in Namimori built by the XXX group, a world-famous restaurant chain. The food quality was quite good, and Hibari often stopped there before school for green tea._

_ "Akanbo, you'd better keep your word, or I'll bite you to death." He threatened, but the baby just smirked._

_ "You have till one-thirty in the afternoon to not kill each other. So exactly two-and-a-half hours. After that you can do whatever you like." The baby walked off. _

_ "Hn. Follow me, herbivore." He spoke after the baby left. _

_ The walk to the café wasn't long, but it was filled with a heavy silence, that followed them as they sat down in a more private corner of the room. He examined the girl. She seemed to be trembling a little, though whether that was from the cold or fear, he did not know. She seemed to be trying to look everywhere but at him. He wondered why Mukuro Rokudo had chosen such a weak vessel, but he supposed it had been one of the herbivore's more merciful moments._

_ "K-kumo-san." The herbivore finally spoke, and Hibari scowled. _

_ "My name is Hibari Kyoya, herbivore. Use it." _

_ The girl looked a little intimidated, but nodded. "H-hai, Hibari-san. I was just wondering when we could order lunch?" _

_ He mentally sighed. "Choose what you like from the menu. I'll pay. The pineapple herbivore obviously didn't give you money." _

_ "But, Hibari-san-" He glared at her and she shrank back into her seat. _

_ A few minutes later, a waitress came by, and seeing Hibari's dark expression, she whimpered a little. "M-may I take you order?" She turned to Chrome, who had previously been examining the menu. _

_ "I'd like this salad and the soup." As she spoke, she pointed out the items mentioned. _

_ "Anything else?" The woman seemed to have regained most of her composure, though she was inching away from him. "Any drink or dessert?" The pineapple-vessel shot him a quick glance, before finally deciding. "A cappuccino and two slices of chocolate gateau, thank you."_

_ The woman turned to him, her fear apparent. "And y-you sir?" _

_ "Hn. Green tea and a hamburger steak." Though he knew they didn't make the latter, he was pretty sure they would make an exception for him. _

_ The woman hurried off without another word, and they were left stuck in the same silence that had engulfed them before. Chrome fiddled with the end of her skirt, while Hibari just stared unnervingly at her. _

_ Finally, he asked the question that had been burning in his mind since he'd met her. "Why do you feel so indebted to the pineapple herbivore?" _

_ The girl looked up, startled. "E-eto, Hibari-san?" _

_ He rolled his eyes, mentally of course. "I asked why you feel like you owe the pineapple herbivore." _

_ She pondered his question. "Hibari-san. My past life wasn't the most pleasant. When I was in the car crash that led me to meet Mukuro-sama, I wanted for life to end. Mukuro-sama gave me organs, he saved my life, and gave me a reason to live. That is more than I could ever ask of anyone, and I owe him my life." _

_ There was more that she wasn't telling him, but he wasn't up for listening to her story, since it would most likely be full of praises for 'Mukuro-sama', and it would end with him biting her-and everyone else around them-to death, which, according to the baby, wasn't allowed. _

_ It was then that another waitress came by with their dishes. Like the first, she was trembling, and just as, if not more, afraid of him. It was becoming quite amusing to see their reactions towards him. Just as those weak herbivores should act._

_ After he began his steak, the vessel, noticing that he was already eating, began nibbling on her salad. She was like a small animal, quite hesitant and wary, only eating very little at a time. He almost reached out to pet her, a bad habit he'd made over the years, before getting a hold of himself, scowling into his food. _

_ The girl seemed to sense his discomfort, and opened her mouth to say something, before deciding better of it, and closing it again. 'It's just as well,' he realized, 'She would probably unknowingly make it worse, by mentioning that pineapple herbivore.' _

_ After what seemed like hours (and probably was), he'd finished his steak, and was sipping green tea while watching her eat the chocolate cake that she had previously ordered. There was a dreamy smile on her face, and he noticed a small smear of chocolate on her face. Ignoring his common sense, he moved forward and wiped the sweet off with a napkin. She blushed a bright red, and he smirked, amused._

Hibari shook out of his flashback, and noticed that Nagi had stopped blushing and looked quite anxious. "What's wrong?" He asked, worried at the complete mood swing.

Nagi looked at her lap, twiddling her thumbs, and biting her bottom lip in a way that was just too adorable to be legal. She looked up hesitantly. "I kind of have to go on a mission."

Well there wasn't anything wrong about that, she went on missions very frequently, and had quite a name in the criminal underworld for it. At times, he was worried she'd overwork herself. But judging from the guilty look on her face, there was more she wasn't telling him. "What kind of mission?" He asked warily.

"An assassination one." She avoided his gaze, and seemed to have a newfound fascination with her shows

He narrowed his eyes. There was definitely something going on there. _She never takes assassination missions unless it's absolutely necessary._ "What are you not telling me?" He demanded to know.

She cringed a bit, before meeting his eyes, and answering his question in a voice barely above a whisper. "...It's with a Varia."

_~Kiri~_

"What?" Kyoya spoke dangerously softly, his voice filled with anger, and Chrome instinctively flinched away. She'd been trying to avoid this conversation, but she knew just how much Bossu would suffer if he was the one to tell the skylark. Normally, she'd just call Kyoya overprotective, but the Varia mission was suicidal.

So she quietly explained what the mission was. An infiltration into an independent assassin squad base to kill a group who had made an attempt on Kyoko and Haru's life, as well as trying to steal information from the Vongola. Of course, that was a terrible idea, since both girls had been trained to fight, so that, if need it be, they could protect themselves. And they weren't half bad at it. Haru was probably the best shot in the mafia since Reborn, and, despite her innocent appearance, Kyoko sure could pack a mean punch when she felt like it.

It turned out that that same group had also tried to inch in on some of the Varia's territory, as well as stealing money and weapons from them. Meaning that the Varia was angry. And one _never _wanted an angry Varia. She was pretty sure now that the group were suicidals trying to get as much out of life while they could.

Chrome personally felt sorry for them, for she knew that he had hell coming for him. She, along with the Varia's 'Prince the Ripper', would be conducting the mission. Her, for her stealth and skills in illusions, and him for his ruthlessness when it came to killing.

She vaguely remembered him from the Ring Battle, as well as various Vongola occasions they'd both attended, but she had no actual opinion of him. From what she could tell, like most of the Varia, he was slightly crazy when it came to killing, though she wasn't completely sure whether he was actually a prince.

As she finished explaining, she noticed that Kyoya was now less angry at her, and more furious at Bossu. She sighed. Seemed like the young Decimo would be getting a visit from the unruly cloud.

"Why couldn't that man send the sword herbivore, or his right hand, or that Bovino child? Even the loud boxer wouldn't have been so bad. Why you?" He was ranting, which was uncharacteristic of him, and she realized just how worried he was for her. It was sweet, in a twisted sort of way.

"Takeshi's leg is broken, and Hayato-kun has responsibilities that can't be left for such a long mission, Ryohei-san would alert the entire building before he made it halfway in the door, and Lambo is already off on work." She attempted to reason with him, but only succeeded in further agitating him.

"Well what about me! I'm the carnivore, and no matter how powerful you get, a carnivore is always the strongest!" He exclaimed, his eyes holding an indignant righteousness.

Chrome gave an exasperated sigh. "You'd kill everyone around you, all the while trying to fight the Varia Storm, who, may I remind you, is a _psychopathic assassin_. Meaning you'd probably get yourself killed."

Hibari scowled, and Chrome could see that she had won their argument. "Don't worry, Kyoya. I'll be fine." She reassured him, with a soft smile on her face.

He blushed, a light shade of rose that couldn't be seen by the untrained eye, but Chrome spotted it. I'm _not_! He protested.

She giggled, and at he smiled a little, and all was right with the world.


End file.
